No Luck

By Noelle Sterne

“You’re so lucky!” “Lucky break.” “Pure luck.“ “As luck would have it.” “What a stroke of luck!” “Just lucky, I guess.”

You’ve probably heard these and similar exclamations many times and may have used them. Whenever I hear one of them, I rankle. Why?

Because there is no luck.

Life Happens?

If you believe life happens, that we have no control, and that we make plans and God laughs, you will believe in luck. Most of us hold a version of these beliefs, without giving it a second thought. We were taught them—our parents and grandparents and relatives and friends believed and espoused and repeated them: We’re helpless in the face of “life.”

But—if you believe we are in control of our lives and experiences, and your thoughts empower you to change your life, you will be less inclined to credit “luck.”

To me, this view is much more appealing than the “life happens” perspective. It means we can choose what we want in our lives—with our thoughts. Many spiritual teachers also hold that our experiences, even of natural disasters, criminal victimhood, accidents, and illnesses, are products of our thoughts—of fear, worry, scenarios of inevitability, negative imaginings.

The spiritual precepts are true: We attract what we are. What we think about grows.

Contrary to your probable skepticism at these assertions, many people have consciously repudiated the old, sufferer beliefs, have learned new habits of thought, and have sought validation and support from spiritual teachers and gurus. And, if we dare, we’ve proved it.

A friend of mine came from a family in which every member had arthritis. My friend, who believes in these principles, resolved, he told me, that despite the assumption of heredity and his mother’s laments that “it runs in the family,” he declared (silently) he did not have to get arthritis. Every time a relative complained to him, he nodded politely and quietly affirmed: “I am not a victim of heredity.” Well, my friend, doesn’t have arthritis and never has. And never expects to.

Taking Control of Our Lives

How is it possible to take control of our lives?

Through our minds. Through our declarations, verbalizations, decisions, visualizations, and affirmations. If you’re a spiritual seeker, you probably know about this perspective and can quote several sources—James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh; Louise Hay (How to Heal Your Life and other books); Wayne Dyer (The Power of Intention: Co-Create Your World Your Way); A Course in Miracles, Abraham-Hicks (Ask and It Shall Be Given and other books); Seth (The Nature of Personal Reality); not to mention the Bible: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:22). “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

In no uncertain terms, Allen opens his book like this:

Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,
And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes
The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills: —
He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:
Environment is but his looking-glass.

Hay is equally direct in more modern language:

Every thought we think is creating our future.
We think so often that we are helpless, but we’re not. We always have the power of our minds . . . . Claim and consciously use your power.
Look at the problems in your life. Ask yourself, “What kind of thoughts am I having that create this?”
You are the only person who thinks in your mind! You are the power and authority in your world.

If I want to believe that life is lonely and that nobody loves me, then that is what will find in my world.
Whatever we send out mentally or verbally will come back to us in like form.

Dyer talks about the power of our intentions. In The Power of Intention, the subtitle tells it all: “Learning to Co-Create Your World Your Way.” Enough said.

Abraham-Hicks extends the perspective:

[T]here is no luck or favoritism. There is only allowing or resisting, letting in or keeping out the abundance that you deserve. (Getting into the Vortex Guided Meditation CD and User Guide on 11/1/10

The principle applies to anything in our lives—abundance of health, love, creativity, fulfillment . . . .

And Seth is adamant (underlining in the book):

You Make Your Own Reality (The Nature of Personal Reality, p. 20)

We Decide

A friend sent me a postcard with a reproduction of one of Sister Mary Corita Kent’s paintings. The words were in her characteristic unassuming pen-and-ink handwriting and framed by thick bold black stripes:

there is a positive side and a negative side
at each moment you decide

The choice is indeed ours. As is the power.

Opponents of this view (and maybe you) snort: “Face reality!” Whose reality? Yours is not mine. Let’s say we’ve been invited to a party. One person will lament, “I don’t wanna go!” But forces herself to go for business or other reasons. Another will be excited: “I’m looking forward to meeting new people and stuffing myself on delectable canapes.” Who do you think has the better time?

Control or Letting Go?

A debate sometimes arises about the better way: specifying what we want or letting go to “God’s Will.” Spiritual teacher Robert Brumet advises: “Perhaps the best approach is to be specific about the nature and quality of [what] we desire but not be too specific about the particular form that it should take. . . . God may have a better idea than we have” (Finding Yourself in Transition: Using Life’s Changes for Spiritual Awakening, p. 114). We can know that all is in Divine Order. Be easy and don’t force it.

Letting go of specifics may not be easy–after all, we want what we want. But as we know that God always has our absolute best in mind, we can direct our thoughts to that promise of assurance. So, we can plan (listening to our Inner Voice), and then do what we’re directed to do. And then relax.

Conscious Applications

With our thoughts, we attract the experience. I am heartened by these words from A Course in Miracles: “The gift of God to you is limitless. There is no circumstance it cannot answer, and no problem which is not resolved within its gracious light” (Text, p. 518).

When an important meeting loomed, I repeated these words and applied the power of my mind and decision. I set my intention and visualized the room and the people, all smiling, and the atmosphere light. I said to myself, “This meeting will go perfectly. We will all say what we need to and each one will have the patience and goodwill to listen. If there is passive disagreement, we will accept the other’s view and see how we can arrive at a solution that satisfies everyone. I see this meeting and everyone in love and leave it in love.”

The meeting, I am glad to report, met these best intentions and declarations.

When I have a client call, I see the client beforehand in light and say, often out loud, “Show me, Lord. I am what he needs.” I review the material and prepare for the call–and voice these expectations.

Recently, similar statements bore perfect fruit. A client asked me to critique a book he’d written, with the possibility that I would edit it. I studied the manuscript diligently and, praying beforehand (“I am adequate to this task; You show me the way”). With blessed relaxation I applied my best critical skills. When I gave him my observations, he exclaimed, “This is just what I hoped for! We’re on the same page!” Silently, I gave thanks for having been exactly what he needed. And I’ve started on the project.

Yes, we are asked to do our homework, to follow the leads, to prepare. We can also recognize we have the freedom to imagine, visualize, and declare the best outcome. And then surrender to our higher selves, ask for guidance, and listen and obey.

It’s not luck. It’s your divine expectation and assertion. It’s what you deserve in your life.